The Nexus

For all that is canon-known about it (from Guinan), there could be a new movie. Here's the plot:

Kirk, just after falling from the Enterprise B, wakes up in a green orion babe dancing show (like in The Cage), then remembers he left one Enterprise in danger, decides he needs help, seeks help from Martia (who else? he doesn't know Guinan) but she says she cannot leave because she is already inside (wait, what? well, let's stick to the canon here) but she knows who can.

Then he finds Picard celebrating Christmas and manage to convince him that Christmas sucks (also he meets Locutus but he tells a paradox and the computer part of him self-destructs).

Then they come out the Nexus aboard the Enterprise-B and Picard falls from Deck 78 and dies. Otherwise all is well.

If any inconsistency is noticed, it's because we're now in an "alternate reality".

I have have read this totally wrong and sorry if I have, but it's Picard that goes looking for Kirk with Guinan's help, not the other way round???

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Funny thing is, that's the main problem with the movie.

Moore and Braga set up Kirk as needing to stay in Starfleet in the middle of the action, saving the universe, making a difference. They set Picard up as wanting family, feeling that his time was running out. Then the two get into the Nexus and... Kirk's ultimate wish is a quiet retirement? Huh? And Picard, the one who was contemplating having a quiet family life, has to convince Kirk to go back and make a difference? Didn't they already set up Kirk as that guy? The way the story was set up, it should have been Kirk convincing Picard to go back. Moore and Braga set up two characters, then reverse their respective payoffs.

I have have read this totally wrong and sorry if I have, but it's Picard that goes looking for Kirk with Guinan's help, not the other way round???

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Funny thing is, that's the main problem with the movie.

Moore and Braga set up Kirk as needing to stay in Starfleet in the middle of the action, saving the universe, making a difference. They set Picard up as wanting family, feeling that his time was running out. Then the two get into the Nexus and... Kirk's ultimate wish is a quiet retirement? Huh? And Picard, the one who was contemplating having a quiet family life, has to convince Kirk to go back and make a difference? Didn't they already set up Kirk as that guy? The way the story was set up, it should have been Kirk convincing Picard to go back. Moore and Braga set up two characters, then reverse their respective payoffs.

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One of the main gripes about GEN for me was the revelation that both Picard and Kirk wanted to settle down.
In the TV series and movies they both fought tooth and nail to keep their captaincies. Both were offered the family life many times and they always chose ship and duty. It was not something unatainable for them out of the Nexus.

I believe that Picard (in a moment of weakness when his family died) might have temporary longed for the family life he sacrificed. And I think much like you that if Kirk were in that Nexus he would always been seeking a way out.

Am I cynical to think that Moore and Braga wanted their guy (Picard) to be the hero and that he had to be the voice of reason not Kirk. And even though I am primarily a TOS fan I realise that at the time TNG was the way forward, but if you want to make Picard the hero then make it make sense.

Perhaps if the Nexus was a place that made you more compliant the longer you stayed then maybe it might have made sense but the Nexus was the ultimate magical place, you live forever, you can time travel and space travel at will, and all your fantasies come true

One of the main gripes about GEN for me was the revelation that both Picard and Kirk wanted to settle down.
In the TV series and movies they both fought tooth and nail to keep their captaincies. Both were offered the family life many times and they always chose ship and duty. It was not something unatainable for them out of the Nexus.

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Yeah, Captain Kirk wanting to settle down is completely out of character. It's "The Cage" with Captain Pike all over again.

Am I cynical to think that Moore and Braga wanted their guy (Picard) to be the hero and that he had to be the voice of reason not Kirk

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No, Picard is indeed the hero and I'm sure that's why the writers felt he needed to be the one taking the active role in bringing about Act 3. But the problem is that that's not the way they set up the film.

And Picard weeping at the beginning of the film does nothing at all for the movie. If he's going to weep, it should be coming to an emotional climax in Act 3. Moore and Braga just bit off way more than they could chew with this movie. Sadly, GEN is the TNG movie I feel to have had the most potential.

I get the impression that the original idea for the Nexus was that it was to be a place that everyone wanted to be, that you could live out your fantasy (much like a holodeck). Then they had to explain why Kirk was still alive after 80 years, then they thought lets make the Nexus stop aging, then they had to show Picard what would happen if he let Soran go, then they made the Nexus allow you to travel back in time and then had to explain how Picard jumped around in the Nexus and then they allowed everyone to move around space and time. So the Nexus became sort of 'magical'.

I would have forgiven all that (there's been worse in Star Trek) if they didn't make the Nexus fantasies for Kirk and Picard so lame . And they hadn't gone against Picard's and Kirk's established characters to say Kirk wanted to cook eggs for Antonia and Picard the perfect father.

And Picard weeping at the beginning of the film does nothing at all for the movie. If he's going to weep, it should be coming to an emotional climax in Act 3. Moore and Braga just bit off way more than they could chew with this movie. Sadly, GEN is the TNG movie I feel to have had the most potential.

Personally I would go into the Nexus. Not initially, but after I experience everything I could in the Trek universe. Around my 110th birthday, I'll launch myself in a torpedo towards the event that would separate outward at the last minute (so the Nexus doesn't smack it into me before I make it in) and inertia my way into it instead of blowing up stars.

I get the impression that the original idea for the Nexus was that it was to be a place that everyone wanted to be, that you could live out your fantasy (much like a holodeck). Then they had to explain why Kirk was still alive after 80 years, then they thought lets make the Nexus stop aging, then they had to show Picard what would happen if he let Soran go, then they made the Nexus allow you to travel back in time and then had to explain how Picard jumped around in the Nexus and then they allowed everyone to move around space and time. So the Nexus became sort of 'magical'.

I would have forgiven all that (there's been worse in Star Trek) if they didn't make the Nexus fantasies for Kirk and Picard so lame . And they hadn't gone against Picard's and Kirk's established characters to say Kirk wanted to cook eggs for Antonia and Picard the perfect father.

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At the beginning of the movie Picard is grieving for his family, and his mind is full of "what ifs." Kirk apparently always wondered, if subconsciously, what life would be like if he hadn't left Antonia. The Nexus gave both of them a look at what could have been.

As for jumping around time and space, I always looked at the energy ribbon as a portal into a non-linear dimension. That's what allowed them to leave wherever and whenever they chose.

It's really no more of a suspension of disbelief than anything else Trek requires.

Unless the Nexus is a nexus point of all times, places, and universes? So that when you jump around, you are actually getting a view into your life in an alternate universe. Now the fact Picard & Kirk exit the Nexus makes less sense to me.

Now I'm just confused, and the fact that Moore and Braga can't come up with a logical explanation either, is unhelpful. Did they take roofies before they wrote, blacked out, and now have no memory of what they were thinking?

Unless the Nexus is a nexus point of all times, places, and universes? So that when you jump around, you are actually getting a view into your life in an alternate universe. Now the fact Picard & Kirk exit the Nexus makes less sense to me.

Now I'm just confused, and the fact that Moore and Braga can't come up with a logical explanation either, is unhelpful. Did they take roofies before they wrote, blacked out, and now have no memory of what they were thinking?

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The Nexus is not logical, it just is.

Star Trek has never been written by physicists, nor should it be. EVER.

I really believe that a lot of people try to overthink this stuff. Just sit back and enjoy it.

Or Picard never left the Nexus, and he's just imagining everything that's happened afterwards - since having more space adventure was his dream.

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This has always been my thought, action hero Picard from the rest of the movies makes sense.

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Nice one First Contact is Picard living out his history hobby by 'meeting' Cochrane, and dealing with his Borg guilt issues, Insurrection is just a convoluted build-up to having a love-in, and Nemesis is simply a bit of introspection, loosely following on from TNG Tapestry.

So Data never died then, and he eventually retired from Starfleet and lectured at Cambridge.

I must admit that I don't particularly like Generations, because I consider the Nexus too much of an 'unbelievable' plot device (it's too perfect and totally unnecessary). They could have done the same thing with the Guardian of Forever, or even Q instead to bring the two captains together.

So Data never died then, and he eventually retired from Starfleet and lectured at Cambridge.

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Well, no. Data died with the rest of the Enterprise-D crew when Veridian III was destroyed.

Here's the thing about the Nexus: Guinan specifically states that once you're in it, you'll NEVER want to leave. It's so full of awesomeness and joy that you get completely wrapped up in the fantasy, and even if you're still under the impression that it's all fake, it's so overpowering that if somehow you're forcibly taken out of it, you'll do almost anything to get back. And you'll certainly NEVER care again about what's going on back in the real world.

So what do we see instead? Both Picard and Kirk starting their respective fantasies, but in a matter of a few minutes determine that it's all bullshit and decide to leave because what's going on in the real world is more important than this fantasy world. WTF?